Shortlists across three categories announced

Sara Pascoe and Julia Raeside are among the authors nominated for this year’s  Comedy Women in Print awards.

Books about comedy itself feature prominently in the shortlists including Raeside’s Don’t Make Me Laugh, about sex predators in the comedy world, and Kristen Arnett’s Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One, about the darker side of clowning, in the published novel category, Meanwhile Kay Wilson’s The Stand-Up Mam, about a woman who enters a comedy competition, is nominated in the self-published category.

Also up for best published novel are books drawing comedy from Isis brides (Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis) aliens (Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino) and domestic breakdown (The Wedding People by Alison Espach)

Pascoe’s Weirdo is a ‘plundering of millennial angst and neurodivergence’, while Holly Gramazio’s The Husbands, is about a satire on dating app culture based on a Groundhog Day-style marriage in which a new husband emerges from the attic every day. This title is to be turned into an Apple TV+ series.

Head judge Chrissie Manby said: ‘I think this is a fabulous shortlist with something for everyone. We’ve chosen seven truly original books that feel very fresh and exciting. What’s particularly noteworthy is that four of our shortlisted titles are debuts, with a level of accomplishment to make this old author weep.’

Other judges included Kerry Godliman, Ingrid Oliver and Ranvir Singh.

Comedian and author Helen Lederer devised the awards, which will be handed out on November 3 at the Groucho Club in London.

She said: ‘It’s CWIP’s seventh year and with it came my seven-year itch – do we still need a prize for witty women writers? But the judges' support for these books proves how a new bravery and boldness in witty writing is both needed and relished. The need to connect through humour has never been more valued. Our job is to big up the funny. The itch has been scratched.

Six nominees have been announced for both best unpublished novel, for which the winner receives a book deal with Hera Books, and a new category for the best self-published novels.

Jennifer Young, head judge in the unpublished category, said the shortlisted novels were ‘brimming with wit and warmth, while tackling complex intergenerational relationships and the ties that bring us together.’

Here are the shortlists

 Published Novel

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett (Corsair)
Beautyland by Marie Helene Bertino (Vintage)
The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Phoenix)
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (Chatto & Windus)
Weirdo by Sara Pascoe (Faber & Faber)
Don’t Make Me Laugh by Julia Raeside (Bedford Square Publishers)
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Unpublished Novel

Some News by Jeananne Craig
Generation Ex by Dara Lutes
Checking Out by Raedin O'Connor
When Death is the Day Job by Deborah Rayner
The Way of Nellie May by Rachel Sambrooks
Music for the Samosa Generation by Natalie Willbe

Self-Published Novel

A Perfect Year by Ruth Foster
Octopus by Pony Louder
Crime & Prejudice by Julia Miller
Butterflies by Michelle Smart
Game of Trust by Yvonne Vincent
The Stand-Up Mam by Kay Wilson

Published: 17 Sep 2025